Macclesfield Forest Action Plan

We commit to maintaining access infrastructure and making improvements where appropriate.

Achievements and current work:

• We’re continuing to look after the forest and access infrastructure, ensuring walkers, cyclists and horse riders can enjoy their visits.
• By engaging with different user groups we’ve identified areas where further infrastructure improvement can be delivered.
• Site signage has been updated to help people make the most of their visit to the forest. The signage highlights important messages such as looking out for other users, keeping wildlife safe, and not dropping litter.
• We’ve removed hundreds of metres of redundant wire fencing to improve your visit and reduce the risk of injury to wildlife.
• We’re continuing careful management of the various routes throughout the forest to help keep all visitors safe whether they’re on foot, bike or horseback.
• We’re working with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Peak District National Park Fire Operations Group to ensure we have robust fire management plans and infrastructure in place across the forest.

Future plans:

• To help avoid littering, we’re looking at installing more bins in key locations
• We’re also committed to reviewing our signage regularly
• To improve visitor safety, and in conjunction with the Macclesfield Forest Working Group, we’ll consider increasing footpath/bridleway/track provision adjacent to roads

We commit to engage with all forms of media/stakeholders and to educate all forest visitors and users.

Achievements and current work:

• With visitor numbers increasing greatly during Covid-19, we promoted key safety messages, including the Countryside Code and Cheshire Rural Crime Team campaigns.
• A drop-in workshop gave us the chance to meet with people to understand any concerns or ideas they have, and share our latest activities and plans.
• We’ve also attended a number of stakeholder meetings, including with Cheshire East Council, Cheshire Constabulary, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, and Forestry England, and will continue to make the most of our close working relationships.
• Our stakeholder engagement plans have continued to evolve, and we’ll ensure we review them as needed.
• As our tree felling work continues under statutory obligations to support tree health, we’ve installed specific signage and produced a dedicated webpage.
• We’ve supported the Peak District National Park’s education team on field-based activities for primary and secondary school pupils on conservation topics such as river studies, habits and soils. We also continue to accommodate Higher Education research projects and have supported projects with Liverpool University and Harper Adams University on conservation and forest protection.
• We continue to update the Macclesfield Forest Working Group forum on our work.

Future plans:

• We will liaise with Cheshire East Council on the potential use of a Public Space Protection Order within the forest to manage anti-social behaviours including dog fouling and control.
• We’ll monitor the impact of and consider any actions required in relation to the rise in commercial dog walking companies using the forest following concerns raised by forest users and local communities.

We commit to deliver staff resources and partnership engagement to meet our objectives, while ensuring cost effective and proportionate resource allocation on behalf of our customers.

Achievements and current work:

• We brought in additional people, including rangers and security marshals, to provide support during times of higher visitor numbers, such as during the Covid-19 lockdowns and holiday periods.
• Successful evening patrols have been introduced, working with Peak District National Park Rangers, local police and partners. These patrols have introduced regular reporting so that we are aware of issues as and when they arise.
• We’ve improved our litter picking and waste disposal facilities, helping to keep the forest tidy and reduce the impact of littering.
• We’re continuing our multi-disciplinary approach to forest management, with staff from across our ranger, catchment, land management, project, legal, ecological, landscape, and health and safety teams working together, along with specialist support staff and external partners and stakeholders.

Future plans:

• We’ll continue to review staffing requirements to ensure we have the right people available during busy periods.
• We’ll look at the potential to expand the volunteer programme, working with our partners and the Macclesfield Forest Working Group.

We commit to further trials and reviewing items such as the use of cones, road painting and temporary overflow parking areas.

Achievements and current work:

• We commissioned a specialist traffic consultant survey and guidance to help us explore options for traffic management, parking and associated issues.
• We’ve made arrangements for temporary overflow car parking, if required, within the United Utilities Forestry Office compound. This will be used during exceptionally busy times to provide relief to the road network and other parking areas.
• We continue to work with Cheshire East Council on effective ways to manage traffic and parking issues and deal with any impacts on local highways.
• Monitoring during expected busier periods will continue, and we’ll use proportionate solutions where necessary, such as key messages on the digital signs on strategic access roads, and bringing in marshals to help direct car parking.

Future plans:

• We’ll consider, through the Macclesfield Forest Working Group, whether a one-way system around the forest road network would be appropriate and effective, taking insights from our staff and relevant authorities and stakeholders. We’ll also continue to review issues such as the availability, location, and enforcement of the on-road parking provision, looking at whether alternatives may ease problems and pinch points.
• Through the same Working Group, we’ll investigate the feasibility of additional line painting, including double yellow lines, within the busiest road sections.
• We’ll carry out a study into the potential re-configuration of the Trentabank car park to provide a small number of additional parking spaces.

We commit to delivering positive, cost effective and practical solutions to increased mountain bike demand across the forest in order to better manage safety and user group conflict, and to minimise impact on important habitats and wildlife.

Achievements and current work:

• We’ve installed signage, as recommended by a biking safety consultant, to remind cyclists of non-permitted zones and the implications of using ‘wild’ trails.
• As part of our review of cycling in the forest and the potential for permitted mountain biking to be trialled, we’ve visited similar sites to find out about how they manage such activity so that we can learn from their experiences.

Future plans:

• Work is ongoing to develop a mountain biking trial within permitted areas in the forest. Within this project we are continuing our engagement with members of the mountain biking community, risk assessing the options for trails, and considering all aspects of impact to the forest and other users.

We commit to focused protection and enhancement of high value habitats in line with our joint industry conservation statement, which can be found in full below. In summary, we aim to deliver an ambitious biodiversity plan which has been developed by our in-house team in conjunction with partners and independent experts which will ensure that the Forest is managed holistically to deliver continued habitat and wildlife protection and enhancement.

“United Utilities has developed an ambitious plan to deliver its key biodiversity objectives at Macclesfield Forest. The strategy is supported by our key ecological stakeholders and partners including specialist, independent ecological advisors, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, regional wildlife specialists and local key priority species advisors. Implementation of the plan is progressing through targeted management works, supported by specialist ecological surveys and advice, with resources focused on higher priority zones and species within the forest where maximum biodiversity benefits can be achieved. The entire forest is designated a Site of Biological Importance and management for biodiversity will continue to be delivered across the whole site to ensure continued habitat and wildlife protection and enhancement within this treasured natural resource.”

Achievements and current work:

• Our five-year project with Forestry England continues. This £250k commitment by United Utilities will improve woodland and aquatic habitats to meet habitat, wildlife and water quality enhancement objectives.
• A veteran tree survey has been completed through the whole forest to secure the survival and health of these legacy trees and the range of species these support.
• We’ve created more than 100 leaky woody dams along water courses to slow the flow, reduce siltation, and enhance water quality and riparian and aquatic habitats. This work was completed in partnership with Cheshire Wildlife Trust and the Peak District National Park as part of the ‘Slow the Flow’ project.
• We’re continuing our targeted management work on broadleaf woodland and open space priority habitats to support birds and invertebrates.
• The British Trust for Ornithology has an ongoing programme in partnership with Cheshire Wildlife Trust and local bird specialists to provide a baseline survey and ongoing monitoring of bird populations and uncover the impact of habitat improvement works.
• We’re focusing our efforts on high biodiversity value habitats across the forest, including the heronry area, broadleaved woodland and grassland/open space areas, working with our conservation partners and an independent local ecologist to provide significant biodiversity improvements.

Future plans:

• We’ll continue to deliver our extensive programme of strategic biodiversity improvements to support existing habitats, create new priority habitat, improve habitat and wildlife networks and connectivity, manage biodiversity at a landscape scale, and help people to increase their understanding and value of nature.
• We’ll continue to work in partnership with key stakeholders to deliver projects which benefit biodiversity.

Phytophthora Ramorum is an organism that causes the death of a wide range of trees and shrubs. Across the UK it has a great impact on woodlands, with larch being particularly affected. Approximately 40 hectares of trees at Macclesfield Forest is affected by larch disease, and felling must be carried out to comply with a Statutory Plant Health Notice issued by the Forestry Commission, to reduce the spread of the disease to other trees and woodlands. The disease is harmless to people and animals, but it is highly contagious and if not controlled can spread extensively to other trees and woodlands. Once the felling work has been completed we'll replant with a range of suitable tree species to ensure all of the affected area will recover, while providing biodiversity along with water quality and landscape enhancement measures for future generations to enjoy.

Achievements and current work:

• We’ve complete felling work in the standing stone area of the forest, including the re-instatement of permissive footpaths and reopening of the car park.
• We worked closely with specialist ecologists and support teams throughout the felling to minimise and mitigate the impact on habitats and species in the affected area.
• Throughout the work we liaised with Forestry Commission plant health teams to provide updates and monitor for any spread of infection within the forest.
• We’re working hard, together with the Forestry Commission Plant Health and Regulatory teams, to stop the spread and limit the impact of the disease by following plant health notice requirements, best practice biosecurity measures, wildlife protection and water protection measures.

Future plans:

• We’re continuing felling operations as part of the wider programme of work.
• An extensive replanting programme is planned once felling work is complete, in line with the Statutory Plant Health Notice. This will maximise opportunities for diversification and resilience, supporting the forest for years to come.